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Apropos of the judging concerns raised by Michael and Tim, I wonder if there really is any "solution", or whether we're looking for some kind of standard or quantification that is difficult to impose on a range of creative expressions. Sure, it's not difficult for most people to see that anatomical proportions are off or colors garish. But what of the artist who intends out-of-the-ordinary proportions as part of the effect? Is that artist's exclusion from the "cut" unfair? Perhaps -- unless he or she is submitting to PSA or ASOPA, where certain traditional standards are understood by everyone to apply. And isn't it understandable and acceptable that art exhibitions and competitions with their own standards and expectations be able to make the same calls, even if it means having an abstract of questionable pedigree make the cut? Is it even possible to have a "level playing field" in every competition involving artistic judgment?
It pays, I think, to do some homework. A recently announced still-life competition got me pretty excited, because I have a few portfolio pieces that I think are not bad and I feel that I ought to be getting about the business of showing my work. Upon further investigation, I learned that there would be only one judge, and it was David Leffel. I happen to like much of Leffel's work, and I have his instructional videos. But I don't paint in Leffel's style and I know from his comments that he has no interest in and little respect for the highly resolved style in which I usually work, so I just saved myself the entrance fee and postage and cost of producing slides.
Had I submitted my work and lost out to entries in the preferred Leffel style, would that have been unfair? I don't see it that way. Had the judge been a classical realist and had I won, would that have been unfair to the Leffel lookalikes? No.
In a way, having the "right" judges and making the exhibition cuts and winning medals in your own ideological camp seems to me to have its limits in terms of long-term significance. Having someone from another campaign (genre or style) present his sword to you as an acknowledgment of respect -- now THERE'S a worthy prize. And even with a trophy room of medals and swords, each subsequent piece has to stand on its own merits and satisfy the requirements of that next client or editor, who isn't really going to care much, after the initial interview or negotiations, what you've done before.
A writer's magazine with which I used to be involved conducts dozens of contests every year. Winning is a big deal for the winners, though the prize money is a pittance, but the REAL reason for the contests is to get people into the mindset of putting their work out before others, confidently and in a professional manner. After that, there's a bit of a roll of the dice involved, and sometimes you come up sevens and sometimes snake eyes. Doesn't necessarily mean that the rules of the game are unfair, or ridiculous. Just choose your games wisely.
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